The-girl-who-was kidnapped
by SkyeBean
Summary: Instead of going to Hogwarts, Harriet Potter is kidnapped by minions of the dark lord and tortured for years. However, she finally escapes with the help of someone on the inside. Fem!Harry x Draco , forced fem!Harry x Voldemort
1. Chapter 1

Harriet Rose Potter had only recently found out that she was a witch, but already she was so excited. Her trip to Diagon Alley, and the chance to get away from the Dursley's for so long, meant she was counting down the days until she left for Hogwarts.

Working on her chores - the cooking, cleaning and washing - allowed her to drift off, remembering how wonderful all the magic had been; how wonderful it was that she could do some spells of her own soon. Her trunk was already packed for Hogwarts, her wand at the top so she could get it out as soon as she left the Dursleys sight.

She wasn't sure on all this 'girl-who-lived' business, though; it seemed more like it was by chance that she defeated Voldemort when she was a baby.

Harriet was in the midst of daydreaming only two days before leaving for her new school, deep enough in her thoughts that she didn't notice the man watching her from across the street. He had long, blonde hair and wore expensive looking robes and a black cane rested in his hand. When Harriet stepped out to do the shopping, he walked over, stopping just outside the border of 4 Privet Drive. He clenched his cane and muttered a few words under his breath. When he did this, Harriet Potter collapsed onto the ground, then floated over to him. He grabbed her drooping arm before causing the two of them to vanish with a loud crack.

o - o - o - o - o

Petunia Dursley has never wanted to raise her sister's freak. The child was so ungrateful! She had terrorised poor litter Dinky Duddydums with her freak powers; Petunia just knew that Harriet Potter was one of _them_.

When Vernon has finally acted, trying to beat it out of her (the first of many unsuccessful attempts), she had healed unnaturally quickly, leaving only scars after a week. As much as Petunia hated to admit it, this freakish behaviour probably helped the Dursleys - they didn't have to explain to a doctor how a four-year-old got such terrible injuries, and the girl could get back to her chores quickly.

To make it all even worse, the girl was as tomboyish as they come! She insisted on being called 'Harry', and had once said that women didn't exist just to cook, clean and wash! The audacity! She was clearly just trying to get out of the chores that she had to do to earn her place in the house. If she went and become one of those awful feminists... well, it would just give them another thing to beat out of her.

All this meant that when Harriet - Petunia refused to call her such a common name as _Harry_ \- disappeared, Petunia didn't tell anyone. The government only knew that she was going to a new school, so they wouldn't ask her, and if any freaks came around, she could just say that she assumed Harriet left early for her ... _school_. So she didn't tell anyone that the girl was gone - Vernon and Dudley were both ecstatic, though.

o - o - o - o - o

Professor Minerva McGonagall had seen a lot in her time teaching; being a head of house meant she saw students at both their best and worst, so much so that nothing much surprised her anymore.

But when Harriet Potter turned out to be missing, she was more than a little shocked.

The sorting _had_ been going smoothly, as always, until she called out "Potter, Harriet". The murmuring that broke out, the heads craning to see the girl-who-lived were all expected; what wasn't expected was for no one to step forward. Minerva gave it a few seconds, before repeating herself; "Will Potter, Harriet please step forward?"

The first years - the group much smaller now that some of them had been sorted - started to talk among themselves, the rest of the great hall starting to full on talk. Minerva turned to Professor Dumbledore, meeting his eyes; hoping it was some sort of elaborate joke. He shook his head ever so slightly, before standing up, sending the hall into silence.

"It would appear as if Miss Potter has wandered off! Don't worry - we'll do our best to find her, whilst we continue with the sorting." His voice echoed in the silence, all eyes fixed on him. Professors Snape, Flitwick and Sprout met his eyes before apparating away (the headmaster had lowered the wards for just a second - this was an emergency after all). Minerva took a deep breath before turning around and moving onto the next name on her list.

o - o - o - o - o

Harry woke up in a strange bed. It was a lot bigger than her cupboard under the stairs, and soft, too. She got up, and looked around. She was in a large room; it could have fit another five beds easily. There were two doors she could see, and when she checked only one was unlocked; it led to an opulent bathroom. Back in the main room, she noticed the book case covering an entire wall, and quickly walked over to it. She picked out a book she recognised as being on her school list, and curled up on the bed and began to read.

When she was just past halfway through the book, a knock came from the locked door. Harry was instantly alert; finally, she'd meet her kidnapper! The door opened, and tall man in silky robes walked in.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry threw herself past the stranger, trying to get out of the now unlocked door. However, he drew a stick from his cane - Harry thought it might be a wand - and said "Petrificus totalus". She immediately fell to the ground, feeling as if her body was bound. The stranger then said "Wingardium leviosa", and she floated over to the bed.

"Greetings, Harriet Potter. I am Lord Lucius Malfoy, servant to the Dark Lord." He said, and then tilted his head as if requiring a response.

Harry felt her the invisible bindings on her body loosen, and sat up, glaring at the Lord.

"Why have you kidnapped me? And who is the dark lord?" She responded, but Lucius only laughed.

"You shall address me as 'milord', and I would prefer not to consider it kidnapping - maybe borrowing? Perhaps you know the dark lord better as he-who-must-not-be-named. I have _borrowed_ you on his behalf; he asked me to, through the form

of his ... vessel."

"But why would he want you to kidnap me - Hagrid said he tried to kill me, not capture." Harry replied, confused.

"I do not know of the dark lord's reasoning; I am sure it is sound. But I am to hold you until milord returns, restored to his former body." Malfoy responded truthfully; what he didn't say was that he feared his lord had very dark plans for the little girl; far darker than Lucius had ever signed up for. But such a display of disobedience would only get him in trouble with Voldemort, and he could never remove the dark mark and run; it was impossible to remove.

"But until then, I must play honourable host. You may read all the books, and when my darling son, Draco, returns for Yule, he will spend some time with you; I am sure I would be good for you to spend some time with him and try to learn the magic you should be learning at Hogwarts - we could always try to retrieve your wand if you so wish." Lucius finished.

"Okay. I don't like this, but I don't think you have a choice either; I don't think I would have been very well liked at Hogwarts anyway" - at this Lucius scoffed - " because my aunt and uncle never let me near anyone my own age apart from my cousin; I'm homeschooled and cousin hated me. His friends agreed. If I'm learning magic, still, then I'll still have fun; but books are a bit boring. Am I allowed outside?" Harry asked, worry in her voice. She loved to run around whenever she could; when she was a bit younger, and still allowed outside at the weekends, she had run around at the local park, but when she reached 7 she wasn't allowed out again much after a neighbour asked about the 'strange little girl' living at the Dursley's.

So when Lord Malfoy responded with a "yes, but only within the borders", Harry had never felt so happy about being kidnapped.

o - o - o - o - o

Lucius Malfoy had acted on his orders to kidnap the girl with reluctance; however, the one thing he did know was that he wouldn't be caught harbouring the girl. Strong wards around Malfoy Manor allowed no tracking spell past them; and it was likely they would, for their precious girl-who-lived. Despite tell Harriet that they would retrieve her wand, he highly doubted that it would still be there. Even though the blood wards were now down, a wand was something that was inherently a single wizard's; it was perfect for tracking someone, and so Dumbledore had likely taken it in the hopes of finding the Potter girl.

A letter from his darling Draco had arrived the day before, telling him firstly of Harriet's absence, noticeable in the week she'd been asleep, and then some of the more minor details; his sorting, and how he was finding his lessons; how annoying the Weasley brood was. Lucius was upset to hear that Draco was struggling a little with all his spell classes - perhaps Narcissa and himself could hire a tutor? Draco also mentioned that he was very much looking forward to coming home for Christmas; Lucius only hoped he would appreciate the little girl who would serve as his first proper friend.

o - o - o - o - o

Draco had enjoyed his first week at Hogwarts. He'd been sorted into Slytherin - as expected -, in Potions, Professor Snape had told the rest of the class about how good his potion was. With the absence of the girl-who-lived, he couldn't have had a better week - Draco had planned to make an alliance with her, but she would probably be a stupid Gryffindor at heart.

Draco found it hilarious how the teachers were all scrambling to find the missing girl - Dunderbore had them searching whenever they could. Even Professor Snape had been looking for her, despite clearly not wanting to.

The Malfoy heir had been struggling with some of the classes, though. His magic never wanted to comply when he cast any of the transfiguration or charms spells; he could feel it resisting him - this was odd because he'd been able to perform darker spells at home 'remarkably well', as his father said.

He'd ask his father about it when he went home for Christmas - one of the first lessons a pure blood learns is to never show weakness to those who are not of you're blood; no one else had had this problem, to his knowledge, and he wouldn't gain any favour by standing out as weak.

But he was annoyed by all the mud bloods at Hogwarts. They came to the school and tried to impose their muggle customs on the pure bloods - the other day, he'd heard one Gryffindor mentioning 'football', and many of them had complained about not having a more diverse selection of food. It had happened so much over the last century, that there was very little wizard custom left at Hogwarts or the ministry. Even the old greetings and etiquette were never used! All in all, Draco could see what his father meant about Dunderbore letting the school become a place for mudbloods to learn about magic, rather than the wizarding world they knew nothing about; he had even heard some talking about Halloween instead of Samhuin, and, when he had asked about it, discovered that all they had was a Halloween feast, rather than any of the ancient rituals that Draco had grown up with.

All in all, Draco was rather unimpressed with Hogwarts.

o - o - o - o - o

Harry had grown used to her new life at Malfoy Manor. She was still suspicious of her host, Lord Malfoy, and everything associated with him, but this didn't bother her much as she rarely interacted with him. She hadn't yet met his wife, who she had seen in an ancient genealogy book, or his son, who Malfoy had claimed would teach her magic.

Every day, she would wake up to find a full plate of English breakfast; she would wash and dress before going and running around outside for a bit. After that, she would head back to her room, to find a plate of lunch - again, something traditionally British. After lunch she would read a book from the library, eat supper, read some more and then go to bed.

Harry had discovered a love of books, which she had never had the opportunity to cultivate before. The Dursley's hadn't allowed her to get better grades than Dudley - meaning she stayed at rock bottom for her entire school career; Dudley could barely count to a hundred, let alone more complex algebra and the like. They also wouldn't have let her read instead of work, so she had barely read any books until she had arrived at the Malfoy Manor.

She was racing through the books, for the most part, reading one a day. She had learnt about: wizarding history, wizarding customs, wizarding genealogy, and Hogwarts history. She had multiple books for each topic, and had found them very interesting; as she was raised by muggles, she had known nothing of this - even if pure blood children were taught it from when they were young. She had also discovered the muggleborn/ pureblood divide. She thought that purebloods had a right to be annoyed that their ancient customs were being replaced of forgotten altogether, but didn't think they had the right to solely blame the muggleborns; they weren't taught anything about said ancient wizard customs, meaning they had no way of knowing that they were destroying traditions that had lasted thousands of years. Harry also didn't think that the purebloods should be resorting to insults such as 'mudblood', as it had caused other members of the wizarding world to forget the root of the problem and label the purebloods as hating muggleborns for their blood.

Next, she would start on the potions books. She wasn't able to perform any magic due to her lack of wand - Lord Malfoy had apparently 'tried but failed' to get it back -, but that didn't mean she couldn't still study all the subjects she was missing out on at Hogwarts. She was looking forward to the Yule break - as she had read that Yule was the traditional wizard version of Christmas, except it was much older -, when Malfoy had said his son would show and teach her some magic.

It was only a week until Hogwarts broke up for the holidays, and Harry was really excited to, hopefully, make a friends, for the first time in her life; everyone had been too afraid of Dudley to be nice to her at school.

o - o - o - o - o

A week later, Harry was quietly reading about potions, when a loud knock came from her closed door. She cautiously put the book down and then said "come in".

A blonde boy, about the same height as her, opened the door and walked in.


	3. Chapter 3

The boy was about the same height as her, but was wearing nice robes and had blonde hair.

"So. You're Harriet Potter." He said, almost accusingly.

"I prefer Harry." Harry responded

"Prove that you are who you say you are."

Harry showed the boy her scar. He paused for a second, before seeming to relax.

"When my father told me that he had captured Harriet Potter, I thought he might be joking. But here you are." the boy said.

"Lord Malfoy is your father?" Harry asked

"Yes; I am Draco Malfoy, heir of the most noble house of Malfoy. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." the boy - _Draco -_ responded pompously

"I am Harriet Potter, heir of the most noble house of Peverell. The pleasure is all mine, heir Malfoy," Harry said, responding in kind.

Draco pauses for a second. "How do you know all of that?" he enquires, surprised at the girls knowledge of the ancient wizarding traditional greeting.

"I read. Your gracious father has allowed me books, and so I discovered a love for them." Harry commented, gesturing tomawrds the towering bookcase.

Draco pauses again. "Why are you so ... fine, with being kidnapped?" he asked; this was something that had been bothering him since his father mentioned that Harriet Potter was allowed to roam free on the Malfoy land, yet hadn't attempted to escape.

"I'm not fine with it, but it is much better than where I was before. I'm can go outside, read books, and the food is so regular. Not to mention that I don't have to work, _and_ no one is telling me that women only exist to serve men. Even if I went to Hogwarts, I would still have to go ... home every summer. Also, I bet everyone would stare at me, like they did when I was introduced in the Leaky Cauldron. All in all, I think I'm better off here. Besides, you-know-who is the one who had me captured; according to all the books I've read, he is very powerful; I highly doubt that he would just let me walk out. Therefore, I have to decided to accept my fate." Harry said, barely taking a breath. It was clear that she had made this argument before, internally; her points were too polished and precise for her speech to be a spur of the moment thing.

Draco was unaccustomed to such fluency from an 11-year old - they didn't have English lessons at Hogwarts, after all, and commented "that was impressive", before something that Harry had said sunk in.

"Wait! This means you don't know any magic, do you?" he asked quickly, surprising Harry

"No I don't. But..." Harry paused, blushing, " ... Lord Malfoy said you might teach me some of the magic you've learnt at school." She finished, for the first time shy.

"Fine. But you have to call me Professor Malfoy!" Draco said playfully

"No way!" Harry replied

"Okay, call me ... 'milord'"

"I'll call you _my little dragon_ , then"

"Mordred, no." Draco paused for a long time, thinking.

"Call me Draco," he finally said.

Harry recognised this for what it was: an ancient, pureblood offer of friendship. Such bonds were very rare amongst purebloods; most lords had at most one or two true friends in their whole lives.

"I'm honoured." Harry responded, truthfully, "but you have to call me Harry." She replied, accepting his offer. They shook hands, before Harry grinned, "are you going to start, of what?"

o - o - o - o - o

After a week of little progress with her practice wand, Harry was slumped on the floor of a large room (Draco called it the 'second dining room'). Normally, Draco would have frowned at an heir of a noble house behaving in such a way, but they were friends, and also because he, too, was slumped on the floor.

"Why am I so bad at this?" Harry whined

"Maybe you're just useless at magic." Draco responded, jokingly

"Maybe _you're_ just useless at magic" Harry said back, equally jokingly. But how Draco tensed for a second after she said it didn't go unnoticed.

"Wait, you don't actually think you're useless at magic, do you?" She asked incredulously

"It's just ... I have to be very weak ... I'm always struggling with the spells I'm learning, and ... it just feels like they're ... pushing against me, I guess", Draco replied morosely, his head hanging down.

Harry sat in silence for a bit, before standing up.

"I don't know what you're going on about! I mean, I don't know about the spells you're trying, but you're obviously very powerful; I would be able to feel your magic dancing with mine from the other side of them room. Lord Malfoy's magic barely registers, and those wizards in the leaky cauldron, for the most part, couldn't be felt at all. That's why I was so surprised when you said that the Weasley boy - you know, the one you complained about -, challenged you; your magic practically screams 'don't mess with me'." Harry ranted, seemingly not realising that Draco was gaping at her.

"You can't feel magic? I've never heard of _anyone_ who can do that." He paused for a second, contemplating what Harry had said. "I'm going to trust you on this, but please can you try and find out why I then have trouble with such basic spells?" He finished.

"Sure; it's not like I have anything better to do. I'll read about it while you're back at Hogwarts." Harry replied, nonchalantly.

o - o - o - o - o

Draco left for Hogwarts the next day, the Malfoy's Yule ceremony having made little difference to Harry; Draco left for the evening, but nothing else changed.

Once Draco had left, Harry continued practicing with her new wand, but was making no progress.

She was practicing one February evening, when her frustration with the magic finally got the better of her; she screamed and threw the wand against the wall. It bounced on the floor, and then lay there, sparking. Harry turned around to face the feather that she had been trying to make float.

"Stupid feather! Why won't you just fly already!" She shouted at it, a month and a half of staring at the feather finally catching up with her. She started to curse the feather, her language colourful.

And then suddenly, the feather started to rise, shakily, from the ground. Harry stopped and gaped at it for a a few seconds, before blinking, and it fell.

"But ... how?" She asked the empty room, too shocked to fully formulate a sentence.

After what could have been a minute or hour, Harry seemed to awaken from her daze, and pointed her finger at the feather. "Wingardium leviosa!" She shouted. Once again, the feather began to rise, but far more steadily than before. Harry quickly deduced that verbal magic was stronger than non-verbal magic. But putting that aside for a second, Harry acted her age, for once; she jumped up and cheered.

o - o - o - o - o

Lucius Malfoy knew that his precious Draco and the resident girl-who-lived were friends; proper friends, as well, not just allies. He also knew that the dark lord would separate them when he returned, but for now he let them be young.


	4. Chapter 4

Draco was reading over his potions essay when the morning post arrived. He looked up when the owls flew in but put his copy of _The Daily Prophet_ aside in favour of his homework.

However, when he heard the words "Sirius Black" begin to echo throughout the hall, his head snapped up. Sirius Black was Harry's godfather, who had apparently caused the murder of her parents.

Draco quickly pulled the newspaper over his now- forgotten essay, and gaped at the headline in shock.

 _'Sirius Black Escapes Azkaban'_

He blinked a few times, before reading on.

 _'Yesterday afternoon, the Death Eater Sirius Black became the first wizard to ever escape Azkaban. He has been imprisoned there for 10 years, for the murder of 13 people, and his assistance in the murder of Lily and James Potter._

 _'The_ Prophet _asked the Minister for Magic, who had seen Black only two days before he escaped, what his impression of the criminal had been.'_

Draco skipped that bit, uninterested in the bumbling fool, before reading on at _'Experts are concerned that Black may have something to do with the disappearance of the girl-who-lived, reported only two days ago in your faithfully. Now, we ask close friends of ...'_

Draco stopped reading there; it was obvious they had no idea how Sirius Black escaped.

As far as Draco could remember, Sirius Black had been the Heir Black until 15, when he abdicated in favour of his brother, Regulus because he wasn't interested in the dark magic of the Blacks. At this point he left the Black household and moved in with the Potters. He later became Harry's godfather, because he was best friends with James and Lily Potter. Then he killed all of his closest friends, except for a werewolf Draco could only vaguely remember. When Draco looked up Black's trial later, he discovered that Black had never even had a trial.

But why would Black escape only now? He couldn't have had something to do with Harry's disappearance. Did he want to find her? But why? And why would a man who had shunned his Voldemort loving family then join Voldemort? None of it made any sense!

All the definite facts were saying one thing; all the unconfirmed ones were saying something completely different. If you looked at them all properly, Draco realised that Sirius Black was probably innocent.

o - o - o - o - o

A week later, a large black dog arrived on the door step of a seemingly ordinary house in the middle of the country. It stopped for a few seconds before morphing into a gaunt man with filthy black hair, dressed in rags. The man stepped forward and knocked on the worn door, and few seconds later it opened to reveal a man with greying hair and the second he saw the man in rags, he pulled his wand out. The man in rags stepped forward, and began to say "Moony, I didn't kill the..." before he collapsed to the ground unconscious. The man named Moony had to hold himself back from catching him, but in the end only bound him and then floated him over to his coach.

When the man in rags came to, he was once again on the other side of Moony's wand, except this time, there was a plate of food beside him.

"Did you or did you not cause the deaths of James and Lily Potter?" Moony asked, hand tightening on his wand.

"No, I didn't. I wasn't the secret keeper; Wormtail was. When I went to confront him, he blew up the street and faked his own death." the man in rags - Sirius Black - responded. Moony loosened his grip on his wand before putting it away in his pocket.

"I believe you; I'm sorry for doubting you for so long. I should have trusted you." Moony said.

"And I'm sorry that we thought you were the traitor; I should have trusted you too," Sirius replied.

o - o - o - o - o

Draco had eaten dinner in the great hall and was walking out of the doors with one of his fellow Slytherins, Blaise Zabini, when the Weasley walked up to him with a few fellow Gryffindors.

"Malfoy, what the hell did you do over Christmas to make you so much happier?" Weasley opened with. Draco glances towards the high table to make sure no teachers could see them, and remembered that they were all gone, searching for Harry.

"I just had a nice Yule celebration; I didn't think you cared, Weasel, or do you have a little crush?" Draco responded tauntingly.

"How dare you!" Weasley responded by turning the most glorious shade of red; Draco could almost see the smoke coming out of his ears.

"I challenge you to a duel, Weasel. Tonight, in the trophy room. Unless you're too scared..." Draco started.

"Of course I'm not! My second is Seamus," he nodded to a boy beside him. "Who's yours?"

Draco turned to Zabini. "Are you willing to be my second?" he asked.

"Sure." Zabini responded easily, fully aware that this was a trick; Draco would never break the rules for a stupid duel.

Weasley scowled. "We'll see you tonight, then, Malfoy."

"Don't be late" was Draco's the only response.

The next day, when Weasley and Finnigan had a weeks worth of detentions and a hundred points off Gryffindor, Draco was laughing so hard he almost choked.


	5. Chapter 5

The Easter holidays passed without much interest, as Harry didn't want to show her wandless magic until she had perfected it, and before long Draco was back at school. His last term passed quickly, and before long it was the summer holidays.

o - o - o - o - o

Harry was waiting for Draco to come back in a week so that she could tell him all about her wandless magic. She had read books on the subject that claimed it was very, very difficult, but she had done it by accident. Also, she had found a book about light and dark magic that she was going to start; she was hoping it would be very interesting. The book was very thick, though, so it would take her weeks to finish.

Her magic was coming along well and she couldn't wait to show Draco all the spells she had been practicing (all wandlessly - the wand was still giving her trouble); she had covered the whole first year curriculum already! She just needed to practice he potions; she hadn't brewed any yet, but she was going to ask Draco to help her when he came back in a week.

o - o - o - o - o

When Draco arrived at Malfoy Manor, the first thing he did was, much to his father's chagrin, run up the multiple flights of stairs to Harry's room. He loudly knocked on her door, and waited for her "come in" before he flung open the door and raced over to where she was sitting. Harry barely had time to gently place the foot-thick book she was reading down, before she was engulfed in a hug, but Draco did notice how she flinched when he threw his arms around her suddenly.

"I missed you so much, Harry! Everyone at Hogwarts was so _boring_. None of the purebloods or half-bloods have any personality, and father would never forgive me if I talked to any of the muggleborns." Draco sighed dramatically, avoiding any racial slurs; he'd already received a lecture from Harry about blood purity.

"I'm glad to hear you missed me, little dragon, because I missed you too." At the nickname, Draco both blushed and scowled, but Harry continued "besides, I need your help with potions; Lord Malfoy said you had an excellent grade in it." Upon hearing this statement, Draco preened.

"Of course I'll help you, Harry, just as long as you don't call me ... that." Harry grinned.

"But what about your other subjects? Shouldn't you be practicing your spell-casting?" Draco asked, confused.

At this, Harry grinned so widely that her teeth could be seen; Draco was unsure why she was so happy.

"Look, Draco, look!" Harry exclaimed excitedly, and then turned towards the book she had been reading before Draco arrived. She said the words "Wingardium leviosa", and the book rose steadily for about a meter, before moving back down at the same pace. Harry turned back around, joy showing on her face, but Draco bitterly said: "of course you can do wandless magic so easily; I should've have realised it when you could sense magic."

Harry frowned at him for a second, surprised at how jealous the exceptionally powerful wizard sounded, before responding.

"Actually, I think I can sense magic because a spell was cast on me when I was young; probably by my parents."

"A spell?" Draco echoed, doubtful

"Yes, I was reading about it; it's cast on sixth years, because they've finished their OWLs. But I was thinking..." Harry trailed off.

"What?" Draco asked eagerly; he was intrigued my this mysterious enchantment.

Harry waited for a few seconds longer, clearly thinking hard, before she asked "maybe I could perform it on you?", nervous about Draco's response.

"Yes, I'd love that!" Draco replied, his eyes shining with delight; finally, he'd be ahead of his peers.

o - o - o - o - o

A few days later, Harry was ready to perform the spell on Draco. She'd must have practiced the wordless enchantment about a million times in her head, and re-read the book she found the spell in originally.

Harry had Draco sit cross-legged on the floor - which he was adorably pompous about -, and close his eyes. In her head, she recited the simple word ('sentire') again, this time pushing magic into the phrase, and casting the spell on Draco.

Immediately, he gasped, and his eyes snapped open. His breathing was coming out unsteadily, and he was struggling to keep still. Harry had to refrain from rushing over to him because physical contact at this moment would only break the enchantment.

She waited until his breathing evened out, and he stood up on shaky legs. Harry guides him over to a chair, where he slumped down gratefully.

"Mordred, that was tough. How did you go through that when you were only one?" He asked, but Harry only shrugged.

"I can feel our magic now." Draco paused for a second, a smile of pure elation gracing his face. "Now I understand why you're always so happy. Our magic is dancing together, and it makes me feel so free..." he continued.

"You sound like you're on drugs." Hardy told him bluntly, but he just laughed; the magic was so intoxicating. He stayed in the same mood for a few days, before he was finally back to normal, and Harry decided to talk to him about something important she had realised.

"Draco? We need to talk about something" Harry said seriously,

"Okay, what is it?" Draco replied

"You know how our magic is so ... intoxicating? That's not normal for wizards; ours is so much stronger than average, and you'll be noticed by the teachers and seventh years before long; I'm surprised you haven't been already. But that just means that you need to hide it, before they do notice. You've told me how prejudiced everyone is towards the slytherins; keep your true powers hidden so you have a hidden edge on everyone, should you ever need it."

They spent the next week practicing pulling their magic into themselves, and by soon they could pull their magic so tight against their skin that only skin contact allowed their magic to be sensed. It was tiring at first, but after a week of solid practice, they could both maintain it even while they were sleeping.


	6. Chapter 6

Harry was reading her book on light and dark magic one day in the summer, whilst Draco was out at a social even with his father, when she found something that made her sit up and gasp. She quickly put her bookmark in before jumping up and beginning to pace back and forth, her mind whirring. About 20 minutes later, she sat back down and picked up the book again, checking the chapter index at the front before flipping to the very back of the book. She walked over to her blackboard - she had asked Draco for it at Easter - and began to copy down the runes shown in the text. And that was how Draco found her the next morning, half-asleep and with a blackboard full of runes.

Ignoring all her protests that she had something important to tell him, he guided her to her bed and gently lay her down on it. She fell asleep instantly.

When Harry awoke seven hours later, she found Draco sitting on the armchair opposite the one she always sat in, reading a book on magic-based illnesses. When he saw that she was awake, Draco left the book on the small table by his chair, and walked over to where Harry had jumped out of bed to.

"Draco, I found something really important! I need to tell you!" She shouted, extremely excited.

"Harry! Just because you're excited, it doesn't mean that you can neglect to sleep." Draco replied, clearly worried.

"Not right now, little dragon." Harry said back absentmindedly.

"So, I was reading my book on light and dark magic, when I saw this:" and Harry began to read it out.

" _Almost_ _every wizard or witch has a magical alignment: light or dark. Contrary to common belief, light does not mean good, nor does dark mean evil. However, a wizard or witch who has a light alignment will struggle to use light spells, and vice versa. To learn how to use spells of the opposite alignement to your own effectively, turn to the chapter on use._ "

"See, Draco?" Harry exclaimed, turning to Draco, who seemed to think for a few seconds before gasping loudly.

"I have a dark core?!" He shouted, excited that he finally knew what was wrong with him.

"That's the conclusion I came to, too. But there is a way we can check; the last chapter in the book has a ritual that we can perform to be able to see magical alignment; that's what I was writing down last night." Harry said, ignoring Draco's muttered "and this morning."

o - o - o - o - o

By the next day, Harry and Draco had both learnt the runes well enough for them to perform the ritual. They had discovered that you had to perform the ritual on yourself, but they decided to go one at a time, in case anything went wrong.

Draco went first, and he pulled his wand out and began to trace the runes in the air, copying them off the blackboard. Each rune he traced glowed a silver colur before fading away, but the last rune he drew stayed there for a few seconds before moving towards him and settling on his collarbone. It once again flowed silver before fading to black. Draco turned and flared at Harry.

"You didn't say I'd get a tattoo! My mother is going to kill me." he groaned, glaring at the black rune tattooed on his shoulder.

"Where is your mother? I'd have thought I'd have seen her by now." Harry commented, curious.

"She's been staying with some distant relatives for the past year, and only got back yesterday." Draco responded, turning around. As soon as his eyes met Harry, his scowl at the tattoo quickly morphed into a look of wonderment.

"Your magic..." Draco was left speechless.

Draco could see Harry's magic pulsing against her skin, a shining silver.

He stared at her for a few seconds before Harry grew bored, and turned around to begin her own ritual. Instead of wand, she traced the runes with her finger, but apart from that the ritual was exactly the same. Once again, the marks in the air glowed a bright silver before fading away, except the last mark; like with Draco, it pressed itself against her collarbone and faded to black. Harry glanced at it, before turning around to face Draco; she is just as awestruck by the sight of his magic as he was hers: his whole body seemed to thrum with dark power, faint wisps floating out into the surrounding air. The sight seemed to give her an idea, and she thought for a second before speaking.

"Draco, why don't we let our magic out? We might be able to see it." Harry said, and then they both released their magic; immediately, they both gasped. Their magic wove together, dancing through the room and saturating the air with black and silver. After what felt to them like only minutes, but what was actually longer, Harry suddenly exclaimed "Draco! We were right, your magical alignment is dark; that's why you struggle so much with Hogwarts' light spells", finally remembering why they did the ritual in the first place.

"I'm happy to have finally found out why I struggle so much with some spells, but it doesn't give us a solution." Draco frowned.

"I don't know" Harry responded, also frowning, before saying "but the book does have a chapter on that. If you give me a few days, I'll find out for you." And with that, Harry went and curled up with her book, pulling her magic back into her body and tucking some of her raven hair behind her ears.

Draco went over to Harry's desk, where his stack of school textbooks was, and began his holiday homework.

o - o - o - o - o

Five hours later, Draco had finished his charms essay. He stretched, before glancing over to where Harry hadn't moved an inch. He sighed; she would probably be like that for at least a day. With that thought, Draco headed out of Harry's room and downstairs to the dining hall, to eat dinner with his father and mother.

When he reached the dining hall, his mother looked up at him, confused.

"It is unlike you to be late, Draco, darling. Where were you?" She asked, unaware that the girl-who-lived was staying; she'd only been back for a day, after all, and Lucius wasn't sure how to break the news to her.

"I was doing my homework and lost track of time" Draco answered truthfully, but he could see his father raise an eyebrow at his son's words.

They ate mostly in silence, only broken by the occasional polite conversation. Before Draco was allowed to leave the table, however, Narcissa started a conversation again.

"Draco, dearest, I'll be busy tomorrow, but can I spend some time with you the morning after that?" She asked, wanting to catch up with her only son after being away for almost a year.

"Um... I might be busy, mother." Draco replied, unsure of whether his father had told his mother about Harry yet.

By her responding look of confusion, and his fathers slight shake of his head, Draco realised that his father was still building up the courage to ask his - sometimes terrifying - mother.

"What could you possibly be doing that can't be postponed?" Narcissa asked, incredulous.

"I'll try to be free." Draco replied, dodging the question.


	7. Chapter 7

When Draco returned to Harry's room, she was still in the same position, although there was an empty plate of food beside her. Draco picked a book on wandless magic off the bookshelves and sat down in the chair opposite her, then began to read.

Draco only looked up from the book once he had finished it; his eyes were sagging from the lack of sleep and he thought it was probably about 4 in the morning. When he thought about the long walk back to his own room, he groaned, and then looked at Harry's soft, inviting and empty bed... he collapsed into it and fell asleep almost immediately.

o - o - o - o - o

When Draco woke up the next morning, sunlight was streaming through the windows. He pulled out his wand and cast a quick _tempus_ , and groaned when he realised that it was only 7 in the morning.

Draco glanced over at Harry, noting that she was still sitting in the same position as when he had last seen her; holding the heavy book steadily, eyes furiously scanning the page for information. Draco sighed fondly and left her to it.

He picked out another book on wandless magic, before once again settling down to read.

This book was more dense than the previous one, and Draco found it was about 1 in the morning by the time he finished it. He was exhausted, having only had 4 hours of sleep the previous night, so he once again collapsed on Harry's bed, and fell asleep immediately.

o - o - o - o - o

When Draco woke early the next morning, it was to find Harry curled up around him on the bed. Evidently, she had finished her chapter at some point last night, fallen asleep, and then rolled over to his side in the night. He made to pull away, but as soon as he did, Harry started to thrash and moan barely formed words in her sleep. Draco instantly froze, then slowly moved back to where he was before, gently threading his fingers through her hair and humming a lullaby his mother had sung to him when he was a young child.

o - o - o - o - o

Narcissa Malfoy was not annoyed. No, she was controlling that emotion _for now_. Draco had agreed to meet her an hour ago, after saying he could cancel whatever mysterious thing he had planned. But no, he hadn't been there this morning. What had changed in the year she'd been away?

She strode towards Draco's room, and thumped on the door. Upon hearing no response, she slammed her way into the room, only to find it empty. At this realisation, she turned on her heel and stormed off, moving towards Lucius' office, where she could feel his magic - but where was Draco's power?

When she arrived, Lucius seemed to be expecting her, and merely named one of the guest rooms, before returning to his work. Why in Morgana's name was Draco in one of the guest rooms?

As she reached the room Lucius had said, she flung open the door only to freeze. There, on the bed, was her 12 year-old son, curled around a girl who appeared to be about his age. Narcissa took a few deep breaths, reminding herself that Draco was twelve, so it would be merely platonic, before striding back to Lucius' office. When she entered again, slightly agape, he chuckled.

"We have a resident girl-who-lived. She and Draco are very good friends." He said in response to his wife's unasked question.

"But...why? He's never been close to anyone before." Narcissa countered, confused.

"The dark lord ordered me to kidnap her; he is her only link to the outside world, and she cannot leave him alone. It is the perfect match." Lucius said tightly, but Narcissa could tell he was leaving something unsaid.

"What does the dark lord want her for?" She asked, fearing the answer.

"I don't know" was the only response Lucius could give.

 **A/N: sorry for the short chapter**


	8. Chapter 8

Draco was woke again later that day, Harry still in his arms. When he looked down at her, she was staring up at him, bright green eyes unflinchingly meeting his own. As soon as she saw that he was awake, her face brightened considerably.

"You're finally awake! Took you long enough." She remarked.

"I could say the same about you, sleeping beauty" Draco retorted teasingly.

"So you think I'm beautiful? I'm _truly_ flattered, little dragon" she paused for a second. "How often do you go crawling into other people's beds?" She asked mischievously, her face lighting up with a grin.

"I'm faithfully yours forever, my fairest lady!" Draco cried out dramatically, leaping out of bed and into a sweeping bow.

"Will you be mine forever, though? And never leave me?" Harry asked quietly and seriously, instantly changing the tone of the conversation.

"Yes. I will stand by you forever, if not with my body then with my mind." Draco's response was careful and equally serious.

"Promise?" Harry was shrinking in on herself, her voice even quieter than before."

"Of course I promise" Draco said gently, pulling her head back against his chest.

After a minute or so like that, Harry leapt to her feet, back to her usual eccentric self.

"Draco! I found the answer to all your problems in my reading." Harry exclaimed. "So, lets start with the basics. A wand is an inherently light object, and with it you're trying to cast light spells; this is being weighed up against your incredibly powerful magic and cancelling it out; all you're left with to use is a very tiny bit of gray magic that everyone has.

This gives us one option; to learn wandless magic. Given how powerful you are, this shouldn't be difficult, and dark magic is so much more powerful than light magic without a wand." At this Draco interjected.

"I can't believe I've never asked this before, but what magic alignment are you? The book didn't mention silver."

"Silver - or gray, as it is more commonly know - is in between light and dark on the spectrum; this means I can use both magics with equal ease, although not as powerfully as if I were aligned with one of them."

Draco nodded at this, before asking "what's the best way to learn wandless magic?". As he asked this, he pulled his wand out of his wand holster and ran his fingers over it.

"By taking your wand away from you." Harry replied, holding out her hand for the wand. Draco gave it to her, instantly feeling lighter than he had in ages, feeling as if a weight had been lifted from him. He flexed his fingers before lifting one close to his face, the pointer finger up. He stared at it and loudly and clearly stated " _incendio_ ", but nothing happened, except the tip of finger, where he had imagined the flame, itched slightly. Harry giggled slightly, before stepping forward to correct him.

"You need to channel your magic to it; wandless magic is different to magic with a wand, in the way that... flying a toy broom is different to flying a proper broom. A toy broom, like magic with a wand, only lets you go so far, but a proper broom, like wandless magic, lets go wherever you want. Wandless magic isn't limited by the control of your wand; you can do so much more with it." Harry lectures, feeling proud of how mature she sounded.

"Okay, I'll try again." Draco said enthusiastically. He once again focused on his finger, this time chanelling all his magic into the words " _incendio_ ", trying to cast the spell he'd had problems with before. However, nothing happened. Draco opened his mouth to complain to Harry, but as he did, a jet of glowing flame shot out of his mouth and scorched the floor.

Draco instantly shut his mouth, but Harry had already recovered from her shock, and burst out laughing.

"You really are my little dragon!" She managed to fit in between her chuckles. Draco just glared at her.

o - o - o - o - o

After days of solid practice, Draco had mastered his wandless _incendio_.

"I can see what you meant, Harry. Wandless magic is so much more ... free." He commented, as he lit esch of his fingertips on fire. "But you said this would be easy!" He whined, thinking about the days of practice he'd had to put in.

"Did you know that Albus Dumbledore was only able to perform his first wandless magic at age 41? And it took him a great many years after that to master it.

"We are twelve, little dragon. That we are able to even consider wandless magic is a feat in itself. Now, shut up and try _lumos._ "

o - o - o - o - o

When Harry finally returned Draco's wand to him, it was the day before he left for school, and Draco found that he had forgotten his struggle with it. As the he tried the _incendio_ he had come to love - and was very adept at -, and barely released a lick of flame, he growled and shoved his wand back in its holster, then made the flames in the fireplace tower 7 feet tall for a few seconds with a muttered " _incendio_ ". Later that day, Draco gave Harry a beautiful tawny owl as a late birthday present, but wasn't stupid and realised it was so they could keep contact during school. In response, Harry taught Draco a charm she had learnt that meant no one else could read their mail.

By the time they said their goodbyes, both had grown a lot over the summer, but neither knew what was coming for them.

o - o - o - o - o

Sirius Black and Remus Lupin has been searching for Harry for months, but had almost given up. They had looked everywhere they thought of, using all the contacts they could talk to with Remus as a werewolf. But they hadn't found anything. They resolved to go to Dumbledore if in a few more months, they still hadn't found anything.

o - o - o - o - o

Draco had known, from the minute he stepped on platform 9 3/4 and both felt and saw the magic swirling in the air, that soon everything would change; he and Harry could run away from all the adults, and the constant but unmentioned threat of you-know-who.

But for now, he focused on keeping his magic locked away in his skin. There were hundreds of adults at the station; any one of them could sense his obscene magic power if he slipped up, and Draco didn't want to give up his advantage of having an unknown power.

So played nice with his simple housemates, ignoring their stories about their boring summers with families; nothing like all the things he had learned how to do.

When Draco received his first letter from Harry, his housemates were curious to say the least; this only increased once they found out they couldn't read what was written on it; the charms Harry had taught him was clearly working. Draco didn't answer a single question about his 'mysterious correspondent', merely writing out his response and sending it off, leaving the nosy students all the more frustrated.

Eventually, the weasel grew tired of the rumours he was hearing about Malfoy's secret correspondent, and stormed over at the end of charms.

"Okay, what the hell is going on with you, snake?" the red head furiously demanded.

"What on earth do you mean, Mr Weasley?" Draco replied with almost angelic innocence.

"That person who keeps writing to you. Who is it? Your mummy pretending to be a girlfriend?" Weasley mocked, but Draco just laughed and walked off.

Time passed quickly. Draco found himself using his wand as nothing more than a prop while he cast wandless magic in lessons. He made sure he was never first to cast a spell, either; he never allowed himself to stand out. He noticed the teachers looking at him curiously at times, presumably from the complete lack of magic surrounding him, but hey just allowed it to pass as an anomaly, and Draco didn't let any of them make physical contact with him; then they would feel the magic locked away under his skin.

Just before Hogwarts broke up for the summer, multiple things happened all at once.

Professor Lockhart was fired as a fraud.

Dumbledore came forward with a rat that proved Sirius Blacks's innocence.

And Draco found a new way to tease Harry; her hated middle name.

By the time Harry and Draco were reunited, Draco couldn't help but feel like everything was going their way. And stayed feeling like that when Sirius Black became their amazing DADA Professor at the beginning of third year; when Draco finally cracked Harry's usually calm appearance, by calling her 'Rosie' (the hated middle name) at the end of third year. By the start of the fourth year, Draco felt like nothing could go wrong. Until he got a letter from Harry two days before the Yule holiday.


	9. Chapter 9

Harry had been in the midst of reading something when her lightning scar suddenly sent pain shooting through her body. She dropped to the floor and screamed, only for the pain to stop a few seconds later.

She had remained sitting on the floor for a while, shaking every few seconds, phantom pain making her wince, when Lucius Malfoy strode in. He quickly waved her down as she began to scramble to her, then started bluntly with:

"The dark lord has returned"

Harry stared.

"He will come to you in a year"

Harry stared.

"And form an ancient marriage bond with you"

Harry stared.

"It will require consummation and will force you to do whatever he says."

Harry stared. Lucius cleared his throat uncomfortably, before offering his apologies and excusing himself.

Harry just stared at where he had been.

She stared as her magic flooded out of her, ripping her books to shreds.

She stared as the bed cracked in two.

She stared as the windows shattered and curtains tore and the chandelier came crashing down.

And then she grabbed the nearest piece of paper, and blindly wrote down everything Lucius had told her, then clicked her fingers and the note disappeared, heading to Hogwarts.

And then she hurled her guts up.

o - o - o - o - o

When the letter appeared out of thin air in front of Draco two days before the Yule holiday, it caused quite a stir. However, Draco knew it could only be from Harry so he unfolded it and read it. And read it again. And again.

And only when he was certain his brain was reading the words properly did he allow himself to process what they meant.

Voldemort was going to marry her.

Voldemort was going to _marry her_.

 _Voldemort was going to marry her_.

He was going to force Harry into an ancient marriage ritual; one that required consummation; one that would force Harry to do whatever Voldemort wanted.

Draco couldn't breathe; he could feel his magic straining to be let free; to tear everything to pieces. He breathed in and out and in and out, until he wasn't going to destroy the great hall. But his magic still wanted to break stuff; his anger was at boiling point. So he shoved his way out of the great hall, not caring about his worried housemates or the curious teachers. He walked until he found a door, and he pushed it open and walked in, the door locking behind him. It was a perfect room for his fury; nothing for him to break. And break things he did, as he let himself collapse, his magic rushing out of him in a great, shredding wave. If anything had been there, it would have been torn to pieces.

o - o - o - o - o

For the last two days at school, Draco didn't utter a word. His exit from lunch hadn't gone unnoticed, and he was bombarded by questions about the letter he received, but he would just shove past the asker. Even Professor Snape asked if he was alright; to this he replied with a sharp shake of his head before moving to his next lesson.

What broke Draco's silence, however, was none other than Harry. When Draco arrived home for Yule, he strode straight to Harry's room to see how she was.

As he walked into her room, the first thing that struck him wasn't the destruction, but the magic; Harry's magic swirled in the the angrily, originating from the girl curled up on the floor. Draco released his own, familiar magic to soothe her, before walking over and picking her up in his arms. She was shaking. He then strode straight back out of the room, and down long corridors, ignoring his mother as he passed her, until he finally reached his room. He quickly sat down on the bed, cradling Harry in his arms as she shook, whispering comforting things in her ear.

Eventually, she faded into a fitful sleep, but Draco continued to sit their, rubbing her back. As if sending that Harry was asleep, a faint knock came from the door, and Narcissa Malfoy walked in.

"What." Draco growled, trying to keep his tone civil, but his mother seemed to pick up on his mood and frowned.

"What are you annoyed at me for? I merely came to ask if you and your girl are alright." His mother questioned. Although she was completely aware of the girl's fate, she hadn't thought through exactly what an ancient marriage rite entailed.

"No, Harry is not alright! She's been curled up on the floor of her wrecked bedroom for days, surrounded in her own vomit, and no one bothered to move her. This only happened because you and father handed your lives over to Voldemort! Get out of my room!" Draco shouted, sounding remarkably like a moody teenager, but the topic was more serious than anyone his age should have to deal with.

His magic shoved his mother out of the room, and locked the door behind her, and then Draco turned around to see Harry staring at him, her unnaturally green eyes dull. He curled up next to her, and she fell asleep with her head on his chest.

o - o - o - o - o

It was three days before Harry got out of bed one afternoon. Draco was immediately at her side, but she just stepped away from him.

"Teach me how to duel." Harry demanded.

If Draco were anyone else, he might have asked why she wanted to learn how to fight instead of studying ways to get out of ancient marriage rites, but Draco knew that Harry had to feel like she was doing something; she couldn't sit idle. She was passing the burden of researching to Draco, but he was more than happy to shoulder it. So he simple replied "sure" to her question. And so began a series of the strangest duels in wizarding history.

o - o - o - o - o

"I don't know how well we'll duel; normally there's some fancy stuff about wand brandishing, but we obviously can't do that. I guess you'll more be learning about aiming and good combat spells." Draco started, flexing his fingers to warm them up before he started teaching. Harry only nodded.

"So, lets get started with some aiming. I need you to fire piercing spells as that wall, the one with the target on, until you hit the yellow ten times in a row." Draco continued, gesturing towards the wall in his bedroom he had painted like a huge archery target. Harry nodded again, and cast a piercing spell at the wall; it only hit the black bit, so she frowned and tried again, and again and again.

o - o - o - o - o

After a day of target practice, Draco was curled up in bed with the one of the books about ancient binding rituals he found in the house, but there weren't many. Harry, who has decided to sleep in his room from then on, was still practicing her aim.

When he was halfway through, he looked up and realised it was already midnight, so cancelled his lumos and went to sleep; Harry only saw it as an opportunity to practice in the dark.

o - o - o - o - o

By the time Draco went back to school, he had read four books on ancient bonding rituals and still found nothing, whereas Harry had improved her aim substantially - every 9 in 10 shots would hit dead centre - but she still wasn't satisfied. While Draco was away, he knew she would practice until she was dead on her feet, until she hit every time she cast a spell. He'd also left her a list of spells she should learn how to cast while he was away; although it was two pages long, he knew she'd learn to cast them all.


	10. Chapter 10

School passed quickly for Draco. He soon finished the books he had taken from the Malfoy library, and began to look for ways to break an ancient marriage rite in Hogwarts' library. Madam Pince had been surprisingly helpful, clearly enjoying having a student who quietly asked for help, was reading by choice instead of for homework, and never made a sound.

Draco would go into the library for an hour a day, slowly working his way through all the books on ancient rituals he could find; he was becoming quite the expert.

The problem Draco had was that the ancient marriage ceremony was a strong ritual; he hadn't been able to find a counter ritual yet, or a spell strong enough to cancel it.

o - o - o - o - o

By the time summer came around, Draco had made little progress. He was a quarter of the way through all the books the school library had on the subject, and only hoped that by the time Voldemort performed the ritual - just before Yule -, he'd have found a solution.

Draco and Harry spent the summer holidays having fun; they both realised that Harry would probably be very restricted by the bond. They flew on their brooms everyday, and Harry, who still hadn't played quidditch yet, learned to love the skies. In the evenings, they'd duel. They discovered they were very evenly matched; while Draco was stronger, Harry had gray magic so she could cast spells of either alignment without trouble.

When Draco had to leave for Hogwarts at the end of the summer, he didn't want to go. Both he and Harry realised that if they wanted to see each other again, it would depend on Voldemort.

So they said their goodbyes reluctantly, finally acknowledging the truth in words; that this was the last time they could meet as themselves.

o - o - o - o - o

Draco's classmates noticed a marked change in his behaviour once he returned to school. He became moodier and moodier as the weeks passed, only spoke when he was spoken to, and was rarely seen outside the library. The only happy anyone saw him happy was when he received a letter from his 'secret lover' (as the other students had nicknamed Harry), which he did every morning. He would write a response by lunch, send it off, and then receive Harry's reply the next morning, and so on.

Harry would tell him about her progress casting the (very difficult when wandless) _Patronus_ charm - hers was a dragon -, and ask about his schoolwork. But her letters grew gloomier and gloomier, until, four days before Hogwarts broke up for Yule, Draco didn't get a letter. And he knew it was Voldemort's fault.

His hands dug into the Slytherin table, turning white, as his fingernails dig trenches into the wood. His classmates turned to look at him as the table began to ripple out from his fingers. The huge windows, lining the great hall, began to rattle in their frames as Draco thought about what Voldemort had done to his Harry. He pulled all his magic in as tight as it would go, comforting himself with memories of how it had danced with Harry's own magic.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice his head of house walking over to him. He did, however, flinch as a hand dropped on his shoulder, and then Professor Snape was gesturing for Draco to follow him, and Draco walked behind his potions master all the way down to his office.

When they entered, Snape instantly whirled around.

"What was that, Malfoy? All the magic I could feel in the air... it was yours, wasn't it. What happened that made you want to destroy the great hall?" The potions master demanded. Draco looked up at him, then down at his feet.

"I can't tell you anything. It could cause someone I love to die, or be seriously injured" Draco replied, despondent.

"I am your housemaster; my job is to help you with your problems. What can I do to convince you to tell me what is wrong?" Snape asked, sure Draco was exaggerating and it was something minor.

"You could swear a wizards oath." Draco said back, and was very surprised when Snape nodded at him in consent; wizards oaths could never be broken, unless you wanted to lose all your magic. Draco narrowed his eyes at Snape, aware that Snape probably thought his troubles were unimportant.

"Fine. Swear to never act in a way which informs or could inform another sentient being about the nature or content of this meeting." Draco said, sure he had covered everything which would allow Snape some freedom. The man in question frowned, unsure why his student was being so thorough for something Snape was still sure was very minor, but he shrugged and swore the oath anyway.

Draco took a deep breath. "You know that Voldemort has returned, right?" Draco asked, indicating where the teachers dark mark was hidden.

"Yes, I am aware; he has been back for a year now." Snape replied, uneasy; why did Draco's secret have anything to do with the dark lord?

"My father was the one who kidnapped Harry, and she's lived at Malfoy Manor all this time." Draco started, but was interrupted by his professor.

"Who's Harry?" He asked, confused.

Draco looked Snape directly in the eyes. "Harriet Potter."

Snape froze, not liking where this was going, but he gestured for Draco to continue, needing to know the full story.

"Last year, when Voldemort returned, he sent my father as a messenger to tell her that he would be forcing the ancient marriage rite on her, once he was ready. And then, he performed it last night." Draco explained, his eyes shut as he thought about Voldemort and Harry. "The ancient marriage ritual is the kind which compelled the dominant person - Voldemort - to consummate it." Draco finished, his hands clenched into fists.

Snape tried to control himself, saying "you mean to tell me that Harriet Potter has been raped by Voldemort", his voice barely a whisper.

Draco only nodded.

Snape waved Malfoy out, his thoughts on Harriet Potter and every terrible thing he had thought about Lily's daughter.


	11. Chapter 11

When Draco arrived home after Yule, he was met in the entranceway of Malfoy Manor by Voldemort. Draco instantly knelt, his head bowed and said "my lord".

Voldemort walked over to him, then tilted his head up with his fingers. "But I'm not you lord, at I? You only follow darling Harry; you'll do anything to keep her safe. If you try anything against me, I'll kill Harry; now, I can trust you." Voldemort said.

"Can I see her?" Draco asked bluntly,

"Only if you get a dark mark." Voldemort replied quickly, obviously expecting the question. "But, of course, you'd do anything for my dearest Harry." Voldemort answered himself, then jabbed his wand into the flesh of Draco's forearm. Black wisps congealed, and formed Voldemort's symbol, as Draco winced in pain.

"Now you can go and see Harry."

Draco began to stride to Harry's room, but Voldemort grabbed his arm, digging his fingers into Draco's newly formed dark mark, causing Draco to wince in pain.

"Now, don't go getting any funny ideas about my new wife! No trying to free Harry, remember?" Voldemort warned, something dangerous glinting in his eyes. "I don't like people touching what is mine... even Bellatrix isn't allowed to torture her." Voldemort said, and Draco had to bite his tongue to stop from cursing the dark lord. But he simply nodded, then dashed off to Harry's room.

o - o - o - o - o

Draco found Harry lying on her bed, quickly averting his eyes once he realised she was naked. He pulled his outer robe off and gently placed it over her, then stepped back to survey the damage. Harry was nestled in the messy sheets, and some blood was soaking the bed from a scabbed over wound on her side; dark purple bruises covered her wrists and upper arms. She was just about awake, and when she realised that Draco was there, she averted her eyes and began to sob.

"Draco, he... he..." she barely managed to get out, before Draco wrapped her in a hug. His heart ached at how she stiffened slightly, before relaxing into it. Draco gently rocked her as she cried, but after about an hour she stopped. At this, Draco stood up and walked over to Harry's wardrobe, fishing out a pair of pants and a top. He handed them over to Harry, before turning around as she changed. Once she coughed, Draco turned back around, noting her puffy red eyes.

"How do you want to spend the day, Rosie?" Draco asked, using her once-hated nickname.

"I don't know, little dragon" Harry replied, giving him a weak smile.

"Why don't you show me that perfect _patronus_ of yours?" Draco teased gently, but Harry simply nodded before turning around. She drew on her memories with Draco, from when they first met; from before Voldemort was her future. Harry channeled her magic into the air just in front of her, then whispered "expecto patronum".

A glowing dragon appeared, only about a foot tall, and began to soar around the room, whilst Draco gaped at the visible acknowledgement of how close they were; Harry's nickname for him was 'little dragon', after all, and only the closest friends and lovers had their patronus change for the other. As he was thinking about this, Harry thought about what she wanted her patronus to do. The tiny dragon changed direction and flew over to Draco, soaring around him as a small whisper worked its way into his ear.

''Tell my little dragon that I'm glad to see him" the little dragon sounded out, before slowly fading away.

Draco turned to Harry, smiling. ''I'm glad to see you too, Rosie." Harry smiled in return, properly this time, before exclaiming that Draco needed to learn one too.

And so he spent the next few days learning the patronus charm. However, on the fourth day of the yule holiday, Voldemort arrived in the evening and sent him away, leaving Draco with just a fleeting look at the terrified Harry.

He couldn't sleep that night, disgusted with how he just rolled over for Voldemort.

Every night after that, Draco slept in the armchair, once he saw Harry go from slowly recovering, to worse than before, after Voldemort's visit. Harry had told him that Voldemort would only be visiting every seven days, but he remained on guard, just in case. Draco knew Harry was being tortured; she had faint marks beginning to swirl across her skin, the kind one would only get if they were seriously over-exposed to _crucio_ ; that Harry was still sane was both a miracle, and a testament to her brilliant mind.

By the time Draco was leaving for school, he was able to perform a corporeal patronus, but Harry still hated to see him leave. He promised to write to her every day, but she just shook her head, saying that Voldemort had stopped all her post. Draco thought about this for a second before saying; "if you ever need me, for whatever reason, send your patronus with a message, and I'll come as quickly as I can."

o - o - o - o - o

Once back at school, Draco spent every free hour in the library. he was soon three-quarters of the way through the once-massive stack of books on ancient rituals, when he found something.

 _'The_ Atrachs _mating_ _ritual is used to bind two people together for life. Viewed as very dark, it is powerful enough to void any previous bonds either participating is joined in.'_

And with those two short sentences, Draco had a hope. It wasn't perfect; going from one bond straight to another would probably be scary for Harry, but he knew her well enough to know that she considered anything better than her life right then. With this bond, Harry could run away with him; would never be forced to follow Voldemort's instructions again. Draco could use it as a last hope; if he couldn't find any other option, he would present it to Harry.

But once he had finished the last remaining books, and found nothing else, he had to accept it: the _Atrachs_ mating bond was Harry's only way out. So, only three weeks before the easter holiday, Draco requested for permission to borrow a book from the restricted section on performing the mating bond from Professor, but the teacher denied him.

"But sir! I have to do it to free Harry from the dark lord! Why won't you let me?" Draco shouted, letting his anger get the better of him.

"Mr Malfoy, please refrain from such outbursts in the future. And to answer your question, I won't give you permission to borrow this book right now; I have noticed that you have been seriously neglecting your studies. Until you achieve the Es or Os - which you are fully capable of - on your OWLs, I will not allow you any access to the restricted section. In fact, I will ask Madam Pince to cast wards around the restricted section; wards resolutely stopping one Draco Malfoy entering without her specific allowance."

At this Draco stormed out. But, try as he might, Draco could not enter the restricted section, even with a disillusionment charm, under the cover of night. So, in the end, he had to sit down and learn everything he had ignored since the start of the year. And there was a lot. Draco was highly intelligent, but he was still struggling to catch up on all the information he had passed over in his quest to help Harry.

So when, at Easter, Draco had to return to Malfoy Manor with a solution but no substance, he was ashamed at himself; he was ashamed at the stack of schoolbooks he returned with, instead of a copy of the _Atrachs_ ritual. But, if he didn't succeed in his OWLs, Snape would never let him into the restricted section. He tried to tell himself that, but his conscience was telling him that he should be doing so much more to help Harry; she was going through hell, while he stayed in his cushy little school, worrying about things as unimportant as exams.

o - o - o - o - o

As soon as Draco saw Harry for Easter, he knew that things had gotten worse. From the way she was lying on the bed, Draco could clearly see the curling, silver marks from having _crucio_ used on her far too much; her green eyes stared at the ceiling, unseeing.

He rushed over to her, but as soon as he began a spell to heal all her minor cuts and bruises, she screamed, flinching away from him. Draco instantly stopped the spell, then asked

"Rosie, what's wrong?", but received no reply. Draco was very worried at this point, but forced himself to remain calm. He sat down on the other side of the bed, and remained there until Harry woke up.


	12. Chapter 12

Harry woke up after six days. Six days of Draco never leaving her side, sitting on the other side of the bed, revising for his OWLs, ashamed he couldn't do more; scared that Harry would never stir.

However, the day before Draco had to leave for Hogwarts, she sat up, eyes landing on Draco, who immediately stowed away his work, before she she visibly relaxed.

"Little dragon, I'm so glad to see you." She said softly, smiling faintly, but Draco wasn't convinced by her act; he knew she wasn't okay.

So he learnt forward and asked "what was wrong with you? You've been out for six days", a worried expression on his face. Harry winced, before replying "I'm fine. I get like that sometimes after he uses too much magic on me. My body basically has a magical overload, and any magic that goes near me causes me immense pain."

Draco started at her for a while, before moving to hug her. He noticed that she flinched at first, before returning his embrace. She was too thin, he realised, as she had missed almost a weeks worth of meals, due to being in a virtual coma.

Draco had to leave late the next day, only a short time before Voldemort would arrive to torture Harry. He left feeling guilty; he wouldn't be able to free her until Yule, as Snape would only give him permission to borrow the restricted book at the start of sixth year, and Yule was the first time that Dracp would see Harry after that.

So he arrived back at Hogwarts with a grimace on his face, and pulled his shirt off before collapsing into his bed, not noticing the curious gazes of his classmates.

o - o - o - o - o

The next morning, Draco woke and dressed, unaware of his peers' curiosity. However, when an arm blocked his exit from the dorm room, he turned to the owner, his teeth bared. Zabini gulped, before starting with:

"What's up with that tattoo on your collarbone? I didn't think you were the type to get a tattoo."

Draco froze, realising his mistake. He was never shirtless around his roommates, so no one had asked about his rune mark from the seeing magical alignment ritual - until this silly mistake of his, Of course.

"It's from a ritual that an... aquaintance and I performed when we were younger." Draco half lied; what he said was mostly true, and not out of character; even if rumours broke out, no one would be any the wiser.

And the rumours did break out. By lunchtime, stories were going around that over Easter, Draco Malfoy had eaten a werewolf's heart to gain its strength; that he was being possessed by a malicious spirit; that he had cast a blood ritual to excel in all his OWLs. And those were the saner theories.

Draco just shrugged them all off, then went back to revising for his charms OWL that afternoon.

As the OWLs went past, he felt he did reasonably well in most of them, and should've scraped at least an E in all of them. And then he ignored his OWLs for the rest of the year.

Fifth year ended quietly for Draco. The rumours died down soon enough, given that only 2 people had actually seen the time on Draco's collarbone, and then Draco spent his time reading in the library, on the subjects that he wanted to take next year: potions, transfiguration, charms, DADA and ancient runes.

o - o - o - o - o

Draco arrived home late in the day, for his summer holidays, and instantly sense Voldemort's magic. He tallied the days up in his head, and, sure enough, it was the day Voldemort was visiting. Draco clenched his fists as tight as they would go, before forcing himself in the opposite direction to Harry's room, step-by-step, until he sat down on his own bed, feeling disgusted with himself for not doing anything to stop Voldemort.

o - o - o - o - o

Draco walked to Harry's room the next morning, and opened the door to find her standing on the rail of the balcony, only in her robe, but her balance was perfect.

"Hi Rosie. What are you doing there?" Draco asked nervously.

"I can't fall. Voldemort told me not to leave my rooms, so my body physically won't let me fall." Harry said dreamily, before realising who she was talking to, and jumping off the rail, a smile fixing itself to her face.

"Little dragon! He said you arrived last night, but I thought it was another lie. I'm so glad to see you!"

Draco heart ached at how optimistic she felt she had to act in front of him; how she couldn't bring herself to say Voldemort's name; how easily she accepted that Voldemort lied to her. And Draco couldn't bear it; he had to tell Harry that he had found a way out, no matter that he couldn't do it for months. He cast some privacy wards around Harry's room, before starting.

"Harry, I found something in my research about your marriage to Vol- him."

Harry's face lit up with hope so fast, and Draco knew this was a bad idea, because she might not like the restrictive terms of the _atrachs_ mating bond, and even if she did, she'd have to wait months, but he couldn't stop now that he'd started.

"It's not a complete way out, though. An _atrachs_ mating bond is the only way to cancel an ancient marriage bond, but it comes with terms of its own.

"You need someone to bond to, and you'd still be bound to them, but they could never force you to do anything, and there is no drive to consummate the bond, but the bonded do find it hard to part. But it can never be broken." Draco's heart ached at the thought of Harry choosing someone else to bond to, but he kept his face clear.

Harry smiled at him.

"It sounds perfect, little dragon; my mate will never leave me." Harry said, her face innocent.

"Who do you think you'll perform the bond with?" Draco asked nervously.

"You, of course!" Harry exclaimed, not noticing how big Draco's grin was, before she leant forward and brushed her lips against Draco's, before walking off to her closet, leaving Draco frozen to the spot.

o - o - o - o - o

Draco had little to do over the summer, except train in duelling with Harry. She had improved massively when he was gone, as she hadn't been able to show him at Easter, and had also incorporated some physical skills into her fighting; once, she cast a spell that sent him staggering, then punched him in the face, leaving him sprawled on the floor.

Both of their fighting was mostly wordless, as well as wandless, by this point; neither struggled with it, and shouting the spell you were about to cast in a fight gave the enemy a chance to avoid it.

Beyond their first, they had only kissed again twice; once, after the next time Voldemort came, to show her that he wouldn't leave her just because she was frequently assaulted, and again, the night before Draco left, with the promise that he'd return with the ritual for the _atrachs_ ritual.

They parted with this same hope, that by the next time Draco left, Harry would be leaving with him.


	13. Chapter 13

When Draco arrived back at Hogwarts, he went straight to Snape's office after the feast. He was given permission to enter, and strode straight in, as Snape turned to him.

"Mr Malfoy, I presume you are here for a permission slip, given your acceptable OWL results" Snape said, turning to his desk.

"Yes, sir. I need to free Harry as soon as possible; I should be able to perform the ritual to free her at Yule" Draco drawled, hiding his hope behind his usual mask. Snape turned back to him, holding a slip of parchment.

"I give this to you on one condition: that you bring Harriet back to Hogwarts once you've freed her."

Draco made it refuse, but Snape cut him off.

"Hogwarts is the safest place on Earth. Even if it is only until you graduate, you will be safe here. Protected from the dark lord."

Draco refrained from saying that he and Harry could stand against said dark lord, as he took the slip of parchment, mutely nodding his agreement as he checked that Snape had given him permission for the right book. Upon confirming that the form was filled out correctly, Draco said farewell to Snape before heading back to his dormitory. The Slytherin Common Room was mostly just sixth and seventh years by this point in the evening, and Draco began to walk past them, hoping to be left undisturbed. Unfortunately, his wish was not granted, and halfway across the room, a boy from the year above stepped in front of him.

"Malfoy, is it true that the dark lord has been staying at your Manor for the past year?" He asked, the whole room silent at the question.

"No. He visits once a week." Draco replied, stepping around the boy, only to have his grabbed, just below his dark mark, by a girl.

"Why?" The girl asked

Draco was tired, and saw little point in hiding the truth any longer, and so he snapped out "to visit his wife," before heading off to bed, leaving the common room in chaos. He knew no Slytherins would gossip to other houses about the dark lord, but he prepared himself to be asked a hundred questions the next morning.

o - o - o - o - o

However, Draco skipped all that by getting up early and eating only a bite of breakfast, before heading off to the library.

Madam Pince barely gave the title of the book he wanted a second glance, used to Draco's interest in ancient bonding rituals, but at the note Snape had written, she became incredulous.

"Borrowed indefinitely? Allowed to be taken out of the castle? What in Merlin's name has gotten into him? No restricted section book has ever left Hogwarts." She ranted.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I don't know." Draco said, feigning innocence.

"Well, you stay here, while I go off and get this book you want." Madam Pince said after a few minutes of silence, stalking off.

She returned about five minutes later, with a very, very thin book, and Draco thanked her, before sitting down in a far corner of the library, and reading the runes. He'd finished the book by the time it was first period Potions, and so he headed down to the dungeons a little early.

He was first to the lesson, and sat down in his usual seat. As the other students trickled in, Draco paid them little attention, ignoring Zabini and Parkinson, who were trying to ask him about his declaration the previous evening.

At exactly the time the lesson was supposed to start, Professor Snape strode in, just behind that Granger girl in Gryffindor.

o - o - o - o - o

Next, Draco had a free period, and spent it in the library, firstly writing his potions essay that was set, then rereading the book, until he knew it off by heart.

He spent the rest of the term much the same, performing well in all his lessons, handing his homework in on time, and then learning the ritual.

It was very boring for him; he had to pretend that he wasn't very powerful magically, and not perform his best in lessons, in order to protect Harry; Voldemort couldn't find out how powerful he truly was, before Harry was freed.

The day before he left for Yule, Snape called him to his office.

"Mr Malfoy, I presume you are to free Miss Potter this Yule? When you bring her back to Hogwarts, take the train; I'll make sure Professor Dumbledore places wards on it, so the dark lord won't be able to attack you both."

Draco accepted the offer, before leaving to pack his trunk.

He left Hogwarts the next day, the _Atrachs_ bond book in his robe pocket, hope flowing through him.

o - o - o - o - o

He arrived back at Malfoy Manor, going up to see Harry immediately, and was shocked by what he saw.

Harry was sitting on the floor, a dazed expression on her face, as she vomited again and again, her almost empty stomach causing her to dry heave. Draco instantly rushed over to her, wordlessly vanishing the pile of sick, as he pulled her close to him, as she sobbed.

Harry remained sobbing for the next five days, until she woke up the day Voldemort was going to visit, and realised she couldn't let him see her this weak, so she pulled herself together, and spent the day doing her new favourite activity: duelling with Draco.

An hour before he arrived, she sent Draco away, and prepared herself for the torture to come.

o - o - o - o - o

The next morning, Draco rushed to Harry's room to see how she was, and was shocked by what he saw.


End file.
